Royal Navy’s 5th Astute-Class Attack Submarine Launched Our Bureau 454 BAE Systems launched HMS Anson, the fifth of seven Astute-class attack submarine being built for the Royal Navy at Barrow-in-Furness site in Cumbria. The 7,400-tonne nuclear-powered submarine, officially named at a ceremony in December, emerged from the Devonshire Dock Hall and entered the water for the first time Monday. Anson will now begin the next phase of its test and commissioning programme, before leaving Barrow for sea trials with the Royal Navy next year. Astute submarines are the first nuclear submarines to be designed entirely in a three-dimensional, computer-aided environment. The first four submarines in the class, HMS